Opioid Policy Becomes Personal For One Health Official After Husband's Death
Deborah Thompson is a point person on Iowa's response to the opioid epidemic. Earlier this year, she revealed a more immediate connection to the crisis: her husband, who fatally overdosed on heroin.
On a Monday afternoon in October, a panel of Iowa state legislators gathered in the statehouse to discuss the opioid epidemic.
Doctors, law enforcement officials and health insurers all took turns at the lectern.
One of the witnesses was Deborah Thompson.
She's testified in front of state legislators plenty of times. As the legislative liaison for the Iowa Department of Public Health, she's often asked to provide legislators a window into what the epidemic looks like in Iowa. The information can
